I need to know. Just came in from a 90min ride, around 28degF outside. My Assos Clothing keeps everything warm but my toes.
So what say you? How do you keep your toes from freezing?
A couple things: In general with cycling shoes you do not want to add insulation to the inside of the shoe with thicker socks, it messes up the relationship between your feet, pedals and shoes. Also, if your shoes fit you correctly to begin with there shouldn’t be room for a second pair of socks or a big, thick insulaed sock. A couple companies do make eithe a thin neoprene sock (clammy feeling pretty quick- zero breathability IMO) or a nice, thin Windstopper laminate sock. Nalini is one company who makes those and there are several others. Gator makes the Neoprene ones. The Grabber MyCoal toe warmers are a little chemical envelope with iron, water and salt in them. When you open the airtight package oxygen causes some type of chemical reaction (exo-thermic?) that generates heat. These things are very thin, about two business cards thick, and you stick them in the front of your bike shoes under your toes only. They don’t really affect shoe fit. They will do a nice job of keeping your toes warm for quite while. Package says they last 6 hours but they really last about 3 based on my experience. Call 1 800 423 1233 to order them direct from the manufacturer. Cheap too.
You can buy small toe warmers, just like the hand warmers only smaller. Saw some in Cabela’s… Yea it 20 below here today
some type of chemical reaction (exo-thermic?) that generates heat
Yes. Exothermic describes all chemical reactions that produce heat. Chemical reactions that require heat are endothermic (think of those ice pack things where you break the inner plastic bag, allow the chemicals to mix, and it gets cold).
Those toe warmers sound real cool, er, warm.
HH
The Grabber MyCoal toe warmers … you stick them in the front of your bike shoes under your toes only
I also use Grabber MyCoal or whatever brand is on sale. I don’t like the feel under my toes so I stick them over my toes. The directions say not to do this but I have not had any problems. Anybody know why the manufacturers recommend against this?
I need to know. Just came in from a 90min ride, around 28degF outside. My Assos Clothing keeps everything warm but my toes.
So what say you? How do you keep your toes from freezing?
Now, I don’t have to ride in 28 degree weather, but I do have the same problem even when it’s in the 40s…cold toes. It’s always held me back from riding in the winter, even here in very mild Northern California. A neoprene bootie has done the trick for me. Kind of a pain in the ass to put on, but the few rides I’ve had to use them on they have worked wonderfully. As others have noted, putting more insulation inside the shoe would seem to make sense, but does not work.
Yup, I have Desoto neoprene toe caps for the “cooler” weather, about 40-50 F and the full neoprene covers (Trek above the ankles) for anything under 39 F. They work very well. I’ve had no problems even at 25 F for 90 mins.
I’ve got this theory that the huge metal Speedplay cleat retains the cold and makes your toes colder than a plastic (Look/Shimano/Keywin) cleat does. Last winter I went on a few rides with my Speedplays wearing properly fitted socks & shoes, and some combination of neoprene toe covers, booties, or both - I damn near lost my feet on all of the rides. Then I switched to Keywins, and went riding in similar conditions in just booties, as well as in just toe covers and my toes were much warmer. I’ve subsequently been out on even colder days wearing just the toe covers or just the booties and my feet have been very comfortable.
All you Speedplay users try this experiment - after a ride in cold weather, see how long it takes for your cleats to warm up to room temperature. It surprised me.
Warm & snug with my keywins…
Don’t do it much in Hawaii, but when I go to Montana and ride I take my little bit bigger mtb shoes aand have more options to keep my feet warm. From a money standpoint. I think it is more economical to by some cheap spd pedals and Nashbar type mountainbike shoes for winter riding than to expose my $225 sidis and $150 pedals to the winter crap. I try to ride a couple cross races so the shoes get pretty trashed anyway. I bought a pair of tennis shoe looking shoes for around $30 that are lace up and leather that are way warmer than any real cycling shoes I have ever owned.
Looks kind of Fred like, but at under 30 degrees style don’t mean much and you don’t need the stiffest shoes for that kind of training G
some thoughts from the barrens of Canada:
-chemical toe warmers are nice when they fit in your shoes
-wear neoprene booties over your shoes - some guys i know even use two layers, a tight one, and a larger one over that.
- all our winter rides are on mt bikes - we can easily go for a few hours when it’s -10 to -15 C (i don’t know what that is in those wacky americano units) without having toes fall off because you end up biking a bit slower and you’re occasionally off the bike pushing or running up hills. mt biking may not be an option for you.
-stay inside with a warm drink, it’s only december.
I did a -2 ride this morning in Minn…
Pearl’s Toaster + Toe Warmers + ski socks = 1.5 hours of “warm toes”
TargetGoingLong,
One more vote here for chemical toe warmers.
I put mine on the top of my foot with just one edge hanging over the end of my foot but not enough to wrap underneath the foot. This is so when I put the second sock on over it, it does not “peel” the toe warmer off the bottom sock by attaching itself to the inside top of the outer sock. I wear the toe warmer on my base layer sock and then wear a wool sock over that. Works great! Oh, and a bootie over the shoe of course. A Pearl Izumi but not the amfib. A lighter model. Also have neoprene, but they only come out when the temp is in the teens or single digits Fahrenheit.